


The Prisoner of Azkaban

by Yatorihell



Series: In The Darkness [27]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, ノラガミ | Noragami
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 07:36:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13185366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yatorihell/pseuds/Yatorihell
Summary: Halloween arrives with tricks and treats, but there are much more sinister things happening at Hogwarts.Thank you Ina (leopah) for beta-ing me <3





	The Prisoner of Azkaban

Like usual, Nora was nowhere to be found after her chilling appearance. She didn’t answer Yato when he asked who the prisoner was, or why they wanted him – but for the latter, he had a pretty good idea.

School rushed through September and October, the seasons changing as Yato fell into a hectic school life of Quidditch practice and Hippogriff keeping.

Before long, Halloween had arrived. The Great Hall had been adorned with floating pumpkins carved into malicious leers illuminated by the flickering of the candles inside their hollowed bodies. A thousand more candles hovered in the air above the tables which had been laid on with a traditional Halloween feast. Pumpkin pies and pasties, toffee apples, and all manner of tooth-rotting sweets were also piled high on the table.

However, Yato had more important things on his mind than food – one of which he would resolve tonight.

Yato marched up to the Hufflepuff table in the midst of the feast and grabbed Yukine’s elbow, steering him out of the Great Hall much to his protests which Yato silenced.

“Don’t make a scene, we don’t have much time,” Yato hissed.

“Time for _what_?” Yukine grumbled, wishing Hiyori could’ve saved him from whatever scheme Yato had involved him in. Alas, she was on the other side of the hall and did not witness the kidnapping.

“We’re going to break into Kiun’s office.” Yato said this like it was the most obvious reason, seeing as they had halted outside a narrow wooden door, almost unnoticeable unless you were looking for it.

Yukine gave a long-suffering sigh. “Why?”

Even if he enjoyed caring for Hippogriffs, it was still Kiun’s fault Yato was condemned to do it – and he never did get a chance to bewitch those potion ingredients.

“Halloween prank.” Yato shrugged. “And revenge.”

“And why isn’t Hiyori joining us?” Yukine asked, crossing his arms in front of him as he watched Yato pull his wand from his pocket.

"Hiyori lacks appreciation of the finer points of bad behaviour," was Yato's simple reply as his wand tapped the lock. Muttering ‘ _Alohomora’_ under his breath, the latch clicked and Yato’s face split into a triumphant grin. Swinging the door open, he gestured for Yukine to enter.

Yukine’s expression remained stony. “Hiyori’s going to kill you when she finds out.”

Bundling Yukine inside with a playful shove, Yato smirked. “ _If_ she finds out.”

 

~

 

“You can’t just take Gillyweed and make it turn you into a _fish_!” Yukine protested.

Yato tapped the doors lock once more, locking it so Kiun would be none the wiser, and gave the handle a rattle for good measure. “I can if I want, and I did.”

Yukine growled at Yato’s arrogant answer. This would only end in tears – and he would definitely not be touching any Gillyweed.

The feast had ended by the time they wandered back to the Great Hall, nothing but scraps left on the plates which popped out of existence one by one.

An unusual amount of noise came from the main entrance, students running up the stairs leading to the Gryffindor Tower which was filled with shouts and overlapping talk.

Yato and Yukine looked at each other, wordlessly agreeing to see what the commotion was. They pushed through the crowd, ducking under pointed fingers and trying to make out the intelligible whispers.

They both stopped when they couldn’t move any further, ignoring the Head Boy’s shouts for everyone to go back to their common rooms to look for what had caused such a fuss.

“What’s happening?” Yukine asked. He was on his toes, trying to see over the heads of the group of girls in front of him. Yato, sufficiently taller than them, scanned the hallway. He too stood on the balls of his feet, and his eyes fell on the Fat Lady’s portrait – or what it used to be.

Deep gouges carved the canvas, the Grecian scenery torn apart by something angry and animalistic that left claw marks on the wood behind it. The Fat Lady was nowhere in sight.

Yato’s stomach dropped. He didn’t have to answer, as the crowd was swept aside by Professor Tenjn’s and Professor Tsuyu’s arrival, allowing Yukine to poke his head around and see the clawed artwork.

The Headmaster examined the painting, his voice nearly too shocked to be heard by the plethora of students around him. “Search every painting in the castle. Find the Fat Lady.”

“You don’t have to,” Professor Tsuyu’s voice was tight. She was staring in the opposite direction towards the higher levels. “She’s there.”

There was a huge bustle as every head turned, followed by students – and Professors – running up the next flight of stairs which carried Yato and Yukine along with it.

Yukine drew in a sharp breath, looking around and then up at Yato. “Where’s Hiyori?”

Yato head snapped around, scanning the crowd quickly for her. He leaned over the banister to check below, then craned his neck to the higher levels when he couldn’t see her.

“I don’t…” Just as he was about to speak, he caught sight of her back alongside Bishamon’s unmistakable blonde hair, farther up the stairs. Yato grabbed Yukine’s arm, forcing their way through the crowd to get to her. Maybe they knew what had happened.

Before he could open his mouth, he heard Professor Tenjin’s voice, gentle and coaxing.

“My Lady, who did this to you?”

Yato followed his eye to a small portrait, empty except for an old-fashioned bathtub which been fashioned into a farmyard slop bucket, overturned and spewing its mess onto the muddy pitch.

There, kneeling in the mess with her crown lopsided on her dirty hair, the Fat Lady whimpered and cried, blubbering something. The only sentence Yato – and the whole school – could make out sent an ominous silence over the entire castle.

“She’s here, somewhere in the castle! The one they all talk about! It’s her, the Prisoner of Azkaban!”

 

~

 

The entire school was herded into the Great Hall, where hundreds of purple sleeping bags had been laid out in neat rows.

Head Boy and Head Girl were put in charge of night patrol, along with the Prefects from each house, and ushered students to go to sleep straight away. It would be near impossible as a storm had started, setting the mood for what would be a long night while Professors searched the castle for the prisoner.

Yato, Yukine and Hiyori grabbed a bundle of sleeping bags and dragged them away from the row, opting to curl up in the far corner to whisper out of clear view of the patrolling guard.

“What happened?” Yukine hissed to Hiyori.

She told them about how the feast had been pretty much over, and that she and Bishamon had headed back to the dorms, but heard a terrible scream and seen the Fat Lady’s painting slashed apart. The entire school flocked out of the hall, cramming onto the staircase to gawp at the sight – which was when Yato and Yukine came in.

“Where were you two?” Hiyori whispered, eyeing the Ravenclaw Prefect who passed by.

“Not important,” Yato cut in before Yukine could drop them in it. “The prisoner is a she. Did you see anyone?”

Hiyori cocked her head inquisitively before giving it a light shake. “Just the painting. How do you know they’re a she?”

Yato sighed. He didn’t want to tell them anything, but the last time that happened, someone got hurt.

“Nora.”

Hiyori took in a breath. Yukine looked disgusted. They both knew of her relationship with Kuguha, as well as her less-than-friendly interactions with the three, which included stalking them.

“What did she say?” Hiyori chewed her lip, forehead scrunched.

“She said… the prisoner is here for… me.”

A stunned silence followed. Yato glanced up at the windows at the relentless storm, half-expecting to see a face looking down on him as if the prisoner had found its target. Instead, rain lashed the latticed pane, and a deep rumble filled the room.

“Bullshit,” Yukine said a bit too loudly. Yato looked back at Yukine, who looked less than convinced. “Why would the prisoner be after _you_?”

Yato shrugged. “Don’t know, but we’ll find out soon enough.”

The searching look Hiyori gave him went amiss as Yato lay down and turned his face away, ending the conversation.

As he heard Hiyori and Yukine settle next to him, Yato’s mind raced. He could think of people who would want to get at him – Kuguha, his father, maybe even Nora – but someone from Azkaban? He had no idea. _Nora must be playing games_ , he thought.

Yato stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep thanks to the storm which was raging overhead despite the sky reflected in the hall showing a clear starry night. The rumbles were joined by white flashes of lightning.

With every flash lighting up the room, Yato could feel Hiyori tense, and then jump as the thunder followed and reverberated in the hall. After a few minutes of shuddering beside him, Yato heard her make a small muffled noise against her sleeping bag.

He turned his head seeing that Hiyori had her covers pulled over her nose and mouth, her eyes squeezed shut to keep out the bolts of lightning that flashed through the windows. Yato gently tapped the quilt where her nose should be to get her attention.

"Hey," he said in a low voice. When she didn't respond, perhaps feigning sleep, he asked, "Don't like thunder?"

Ever so slightly Hiyori shook her head, shrinking further into her sleeping bag so the quilt nearly covered her still-closed eyes. Yato sat up and wriggled himself closer, flinging half of his own blanket over her then half of hers over himself. He lay back down facing her. Her eyes had cracked open, but her blanket and hair partially masked her expression.

"Yato?"

"We're safe in here," Yato said, tucking his arm behind his head as a makeshift pillow and closing his eyes. "You don't have to be afraid. I'm right here."

Silence followed, the rustling of sleeping bags every now and then and the fading storm lulling him into a troubled sleep. He didn't notice that Hiyori had rolled over onto her side, still bundled up in the covers and taking refuge in the sanctuary he had created between them.

 

~

 

Morning came with an overcast sky, the lingering dregs of the storm casting light showers over the school grounds and making the nearly bare Whomping Willow shake itself off like a dog.

A wintery sunlight woke Yato, squinting in the light that met his eyes through his tousled hair. He rolled his head, a small grunt escaping him before he opened his eyes a bit more. What he saw nearly gave him a heart attack.

Hiyori, her faces inches from his, was sound asleep, completely oblivious to how close they were. Yato felt heat rise in his face. Why was she so close?

He tried wriggling his sleeping bag away so that Hiyori wouldn’t wake up to him questionably close to her – even if it was her own doing – but her weight had trapped half of it underneath her when she had shuffled closer in the night.

Yato lay still, wondering what to do as he was effectively trapped without waking her up. He flopped back down, perhaps a little too hard as Hiyori let out a small huff of air, her forehead scrunching at the interruption of whatever dream she was having. Then, without thinking, she snuggled her face in Yato's blanket, unbelievably close to his chest.

Yato froze, eyes blown wide and his heart hammering so hard he was surprised Hiyori didn't stir from it. Her ear was pressed so close she must’ve been able to feel his heart racing. Instead, Hiyori’s face had relaxed as she nuzzled again with a sigh.

"Smerlsnice," she mumbled, voice slurred with sleep.

Yato’s cheeks were set aflame. _I-I smell nice?_ Yato could barely comprehend what she had just said. Was she talking about him? Or talking to someone in her dream?

The Great Hall’s door creaked open. Yato bolted upright, snapping out of his stupor to look at Professor Tenjin, who was talking quietly to the Head Girl. She nodded, and the Headmaster left with one last look around the room.

When he turned around, Yato found Yukine and Hiyori wide awake and staring at the door, before looking at Yato.

“The prisoner must’ve escaped.” Yato frowned. “How could she escape?

**Author's Note:**

> Oooooo drama. Yep, Yato and Hiyori are definitely getting close.


End file.
